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Italian Federation
The Italian Federation (Italian: Federazione Italiana), was the official status of the Italian peninsula between 1919 and 1929. Though it claimed to be the official government of all of Italy, its claims were disputed by the Syndicalist powers, who backed the Socialist Republic of Italy instead. It was bordered by Switzerland to the north, Austria to the northeast, and the Socialist Republic of Italy to both the north and the southwest. History Creation The unified Italy created in 1861 lasted little more than half a century. Her decision to side with the Entente powers rather than her traditional Central European allies during the Weltkrieg proved to be a mistake of the highest order. In 1919 Italian forces collapsed under a Central Powers offensive, and the combination of anger at Italy's betrayal and the Austrian desire for a friendly but weakened Italy resulted in the reorganization of the peninsula under a Federation of pre-unification states, under the leadership of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, a Habsburg army officer. Soon after the Federation was proclaimed, however, incensed socialists and nationalists proclaimed the Republic of Italy in Milan, and across Northern Italy Federal and Austrian troops were forced out. Soon, however, the Republican rebels began to split apart into Red and White factions, and their advance stalled. The Whites, fearful of what the Syndicalists would do to their nation, and knowing Austria was about to fully intervention against them, contacted the Austrians for aid, and formed a pact that would barely hold the Reds at the River Po. When the fighting ended, Austria forced the Republicans to officially remain part of the Federation as Lombardy-Venetia but allowed the Prime Minister of the Republic to become Interim Head of the Federation. Decline and Dissolution The Federation's power and recognition remained strong until 1925 when the British Empire collapsed. As through much of Europe, a war scare shot through the peninsula, and the Socialists made preparatory moves to attack the southern states. Austria, experiencing internal turmoil, made the decision to withdraw forces from Rome and the Mezzogiorno. Furious, the Sicilian government saw no benefit in remaining part of the Federation and abandoned the system. Kingdom of Sardinia took the opportunity to leave as well, though it did not yet proclaim itself the Kingdom of Italy reborn. Ultimately, however, the new syndicalist Union of Britain did not provide the support that leaders in Torino anticipated, and the specter of war faded from Italy. While the Papal government and the Republic of Lombardy-Venetia (which became the Italian Republic after 1929) continued to remain part of the Federation, the writing was on the wall, and when the Federation Council's term of office expired in 1929 it was not renewed. Organization and Leadership The Italian Federation's ruling body was the Council of the Italian Federation (Italian: Consiglio della Federazione Italiano), a congress made up of delegates from the member states of the Federation. Delegates were selected every ten years. The Council was designed to be headquartered in the capital city of the current Head, which was originally Florence, but after 1920 proceedings were held in Milan. The Head of State of the Federation was referred to as the Head of the Council of the Italian Federation (informally Head of the Federation) who was also a Head of State of one of the member states. A new Head was elected by the members of the Council on the death of the previous one. The first Head of the Federation was Pietro Ferdinando I, Grand Duke of Tuscany. The position of Interim Head was given to the Prime Minister of the Federation (from 1921-1929 the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lombardy-Venetia, later the Italian Republic) if the legitimate Head was either incapable of taking up his post, had not yet been chosen, or in exceptional circumstances (as in 1921-1929). See Also * Austro-Hungarian Empire Category:Italian-related topics Category:Articles under Rework